


The Lonely Mercenary: A Final Fantasy Story

by crow_017



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Bisexual Cloud Strife, Cloud Strife Needs a Hug, F/M, Final Fantasy VII - Freeform, M/M, Mindfuck, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, Violence, final fantasy series - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:14:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29704575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crow_017/pseuds/crow_017
Summary: Cloud is hired by Barret Wallace and the members of Avalanche to destroy Shinra's business towers, and things go awry. In this story, we follow the adventures of Final Fantasy's most notable protagonists and their journeys.
Relationships: Jessie/Cloud Strife, Sephiroth/Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	1. Cloud Strife

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone. I'll add trigger warnings in the beginning notes since I'll be going into deep and dark topics later on down the road (because I like angst and I want to project onto my comfort characters okay shut up), so please look at these before reading in case if you can't handle these types of topics. Various Chapters will be in different character POV's, but it will all be in third person.

The light pollution in the city took over Midgar’s skies, making it almost impossible to tell if it was day or night. The only reason how people could really tell was from their phones or the time that they followed specifically. You couldn’t see the stars either, and the children couldn’t even make a wish upon them— especially when they need it the most. Many called this place _ The Pizza in the Sky _ , where many in the underground were just trying to make it to the top and make it alive. 

Strife has seen many things as a soldier in his past before his leave, especially horrors in the underground sector. The place is considered to be the worst in crime in all of Midgar, which made the property values the cheapest. The homes were worse as you went down. Some could be tipped over by just one slight push because it was just tin roofing and walls. Nobody at the top really cared, though. 

He remembered one child in sector three, around twelve, playing ball on the empty streets by himself. He wore an all black shirt with the noticeable white checkmark in the middle, with white shorts and red bottoms to match. He left the ball where he found it before going to the bench to retrieve his worn backpack and a handgun. He raises up his baggy shirt and stuffs his handgun in his shorts before tossing the bag on his back and walking deeper into the streets of the underground. Several weeks later, his face was on the five o’clock news. Dead from a driveby, the newscaster said with a solemn voice. The child got hit from the stray bullets. 

It’s funny about how the bullets miss the worst and hit the best, the ones that don’t deserve it at all. 

The child’s handgun was found on his person as Shinra enforcers were searching his corpse, and it was suspected that he was one of the perpetrators. Even associates with the people that committed the drive-by, and it tarnished his and his family’s name. This caused people in the underground sector to riot and demand justice, standing up for the child. 

It took the mother of the child to make a public announcement and say that her son had the handgun because the underground was a cesspool for violence, theft, and any other crime under the unnoticeable sun. Even if the kid retrieved the gun behind her back, she understood why when she found out. 

This was some of the reasons why Cloud left Shinra in the first place, because of Shinra’s unwillingness to solve the problem in the underground. They only cared about themselves and the top sector. 

Another thing he saw while in service was another, two young siblings were forced to live with their grandparents in the ground sector because their parents couldn’t even take care of themselves— much less two children who haven’t even reached adolescence yet. One of the Shinra agents spilled the beans about her interrogations with the siblings. 

One talked about his fear of zombies, all because they resembled his father. Groaning, near death (well, at least smelled like it), sprawled on the couch, and his eyes rolled back as the toxins in his body took over him. One month later after the interrogation, the Shinra agent found out that the father was found dead from an overdose while their mother was nowhere to be seen. The older sister found the body. 

The Shinra agent always keeps track of them, and even tracked the mother down and arrested her for child negligence. Luckily, the grandparents stood up and took action and took the two siblings out of the underground sector and took them to sector five in the ground sector— but the damage was already done. 

Midgar was its own world, above whatever was below. It was usually cold due to the excessive air conditioning and how it was up in the atmosphere, especially at the top. In the tourist districts and housing areas, there are artificial heaters that make it seem like it’s Old Beverly Hills before America was later decimated due to another World War that occured. On the other side of the sky sector is the business district, which is Shinra Electric Company territory. Normal citizens weren’t allowed there without appointment or an ID card, trespassers were shot on sight and shot again in the head just for extra measure. 

Many eco-terrorists have tried to get in, but have been sniped by people right at the gate. They haven’t even met the off-duty super soldiers or large tanks with gun turrets for limbs. Some have tried, but all have failed. Shinra’s forces were already their own government, it could even be considered as a superpower in the city of Midgar. 

Instead of a government presiding over a settlement, it was the business that had everyone in its pockets. The political officials don’t make moves unless Shinra’s head office, the ones behind the scenes, approve of it. Even if the men in black were wrong, they got their point across and made it happen. With the men in black, there was a hierarchy within the elites. President Rufus Shinra, the man in white, was the one who had eyes and connections everywhere. From the slums in the underground to the mansions in the tourist districts of the sky sector. 

He knew what would come through the trains, be it people, deliveries, imports from different sectors and even from different parts of the world. The train was unkempt, since it usually ran in the underground sector to the business district at the sky sector. 

There was something that President Rufus Shinra didn’t know, though; and that was Cloud who was standing on top of the train, on his way to meet someone who hired him in the business district. Someone with enough hate for Shinra who was also stupid enough to try to raid the place before destroying the main tower. 

There was one organization who was fighting against Shinra’s powerful chokehold on everyone in Midgar, but they didn’t have much manpower to match the government-backed company with super soldiers to spare for three wars at the same time and possibly more. 

The wind was bitterly cold, and cloud was suffering for it since he was only wearing a thin tank top, shoulder pads, and baggy pants with black leather boots. His hair was getting in his eyes and mouth, making him spit it out and try to move it out of the way with his right hand. It was an honest surprise about how he could stay on a vehicle going at least one hundred and seventy miles per hour. The winds were bitterly cold and unforgiving, Cloud shivered a bit as he thought about that cloak he left back in the safehouse. 

He saw the tower, which meant he was getting closer to the train’s stop. The train starts to slow down, and Cloud grabs for his Buster Sword, something almost as wide as he is as well as it comes up to his chest. The sword was cold, it felt unused. He usually didn’t have to pull it out, since his presence alone would intimidate whoever was in his way. Hell, it even scared some of the people that he worked with from time to time, which is probably why he got paid a bit more than his usual request at times. Cloud has been on this train for some time, and he knows when this train will stop completely. If the brakes were applied, then it’ll be about one minute before it stops. It gave him a small window of time to prepare, since Shinra officers would investigate and search the train before taking the imports in the tower. 

There were two officers in each train car, and three would usually wait outside and check the cars from the gate. 

The person who hired him told Cloud in a cryptic message that he would be waiting for Cloud at the gate, with those three officers taken care of just before the train arrived. It would just be up to him to go in the train and finish off the Shinra officers inside the train. 

He took a deep breath before hopping inside the last train car, hoping to take whoever was inside by surprise. There was friendly chatter among the guards with rifles in their hands that was abruptly interrupted by the loud  _ thud  _ that Strife made when jumping on the floor. Two took the left side of the train car while the other took the right, all three of them raised up their rifles and took the safety off them. 

_ Three.  _

Unfortunately for the guards, Cloud knew the tactics of the Shinra operatives like the back of his hand because he was a high ranking ex Shinra soldier. Even with Cloud hiding behind one of the wooden cargo boxes as well as he was outnumbered, he was the predator— while the Shinra guards were only small prey. Cloud was the ravenous lone wolf to the Shinra guard’s lambs, and Cloud was ready to go in for the kill. 

He grabs his Buster Sword and lunges towards the officers that flanked left, swinging it mercilessly at one while the other leapt back in panic, aiming at Strife and shooting, only to miss due to his arms that were trembling from the surprise attack. The guard’s body was thrown against the wall due to the harsh impact of the sword. Cloud pounces towards the downed guard, plunging the Buster Sword in his torso. 

_ Two. _

His hair is in his face once again, slicks it to the side to get it out of his eyes before charging at the one who flanked right next. He shot up in the air, one of the bullets grazed Strife’s shoulder. He cringes in pain before kicking him in the stomach, forcing him to the ground before using that same foot to stomp the guard’s face in. One for the finisher, and one more time for extra measure. Soldiers were taught to annihilate their enemy and give them no chances to get up. 

_ And then there was one. _

He glared at the final one with a menacing grimace, mixed with blood that was both his and the guards’ lives that he took. The final guard standing didn’t stand for long, he fell to his knees and raised his hands up for surrender. The guard had pleading eyes, ones with a reason to live. Ones with a family back in his hometown. 

Cloud didn’t care, though. War was just another form of business, an occupation. Those who lost were liabilities. He was a hypocrite, he left due to Shinra’s unforgiving terror to the people, the soldiers, and their ignorance towards the problems underneath the sky sector. Yet, during his mercenary work, he lived by the kill-or-be-killed philosophy that Shinra and the gangs in the underground had. Maybe it was just part of the occupation. All he knew though was that he knew that his past self wouldn’t like the Cloud Strife he sees in the mirror. He was a walking anomale, long story short. 

Strife walked behind him and kicked him to the ground on his stomach, before plunging the sword through his chest, letting him meet the same fate as his allies. The putrid stench of death and blood all over his shirt, sword, and on the corpses hung in the train car— but the sense that stuck with Cloud the most was the sound of the whimpers of surrender, the mumbling of last words and prayers to their gods and idols, and their deathly chokes and screams. 

Cloud was stuck in a daze before the train car’s door opened, and there were four people glaring at the massacre. 

One of the most noticeable was a tall man with short hair, sunshades, and a tattoo on his right arm— at least, his human limb. He had a build that many men would envy, biceps that took two of Strife’s hands to wrap halfway around them. The other limb was a modded prosthetic with a machine gun turret attached. He stares over at the aftermath all over the floor and then stares up at Cloud with an unchanged facial expression. 

“You the merc?” He asks. 

Cloud nods. “...And you must be Avalanche.” 

“No shit. The name’s Barret—” he turns away and frowns. “—and here’s one fact about me. I don’t trust you. You pull up already lookin’ like a soldier, so I’ll have both my eyes on you.” Cloud rolls his eyes, following Barret with the other members in tow.

“Biggs,” the taller and slender one of the Avalanche members greeted. 

“Coming from Avalanche, ready to blow up the Shinra tower sky high.” Strife responds with twice the bite, ignoring Biggs’ introduction. “I couldn’t care less about what you think of me, all I really care about is the cash you owe me after this.” The other three members stay silent, only watching the animosity grow between Barret and Strife. The business district was quite darker than the tourist district and much colder than what they thought. Barret wasn’t lying when he said it wouldn’t be wise to pack a thick layered jacket or any other warm clothing, although he didn’t follow his own discretion since he was wearing a sleeveless denim vest, exposing his arms and the upper part of his chest. 

Strife stopped as the Avalanche members went on without him, he stared up at the tower in its full beauty and majesty or at its most ugly due to the disturbing stories behind the tower and the blood on Shinra’s hands due to its industrialism and self-serving capitalism. The lights were shining bright down on the mercenary, the whirring of machinery inside the tower was audible even from a few miles away. He could even hear some of the workers yell and bark orders from the outside as well. It was a sight that Cloud never really could get used to, even though he spent the beginning of training as a soldier in this tower. 

One of the Avalanche members glanced towards Cloud with concern drawn all over her face. She taps him on the shoulder and awakens him from his daze. Her hair was in a ponytail, her hair the same color as her eyes; a light brown. A red bandana covers her forehead, and a steel armor plate covers her sleeveless turtleneck and her shoulders. She carries an uzi, but it’s rare for her to use it since she’s more or less the engineer of the group. She considers that weapon a last resort, and nothing more. 

“Hey, you okay?” She asks him. 

“O-Oh… Yeah. I’m fine,” Cloud replies absentmindedly. 

“Don’t worry about Barret. He’s like this with any new person he sees—” She chuckles. “—but it’s just because of a lot of stuff he’s seen over the years. Especially with Shinra soldiers and guards. Don’t tell him I said that, though. Just… Just take it easy on him.” She sighs. “He’s a really good guy deep down.” 

“Alright, I’ll try—” Cloud nods. “—no promises, though.”

“I’ll take that,” she smirks. “Something tells me that this is the best I’ll get.” The Avalanche member looks up at the tower and then back at the nonchalant mercenary. “So,” she smiles once again. “I haven’t caught your name, by the way.” 

“Cloud. Cloud Strife,” he responds. 

“Mine’s Jessie. Jessie Rasberry,” she replies. “I hope to see more of you, either during these operations or outside of them.” Jessie giggled. “Anyway, we should get back going before Barret blows a fuse.” She grabs onto his wrist and speedwalks to the back entrance of the tower, which was already clear of enemies thanks to Barret and the other members of Avalanche. 

“‘Bout damn time,” Barret scoffed. “Taking your sweet time, I see. Time that we don’t have, to be specific.”

“I—” Cloud then recalled what Jessie said, and bit his tongue. He could tell that Jessie was staring holes in the back of his head too. “...Whatever.” Cloud rolls his eyes. “I was expecting trouble,” Cloud tilted his head as he stared at the corpses of guards riddled with machine gun bullets. The exit wounds were larger than the entrance wounds, and that was saying a lot since the exit wounds were as large as a closed fist. “Looks like you were here taking care of business beforehand.”

“Oh, we took care of it and then some,” Barret replied. “Looks like you did too, back at that train there.” He stared down the barrel in his arm and looked at his ammo cartridge. “Yup, still have some left,” he mumbled to himself. “Lessgo, we don’t have much time before they call in for these guys.” They rush to the lowest floor and find the nearest elevator, Jessie runs up and calls it using one of the deceased’s ID cards. 

“Okay, so it looks like we’ll be needing ID cards in order to use the elevators,” she announces. 

“Some of the doors too, from what it looks like,” another member nods. 

“Yup. It looks like any of the guards’ ID cards will do, since we’re going for the core reactor and not the top floors. They might require different IDs just by guessing,” Jessie continues.

“That’s our Jessie. You heard ‘er, grab the ID cards in case if we separate and you need access to the doors and elevators. Separating isn’t our plan, but shit happens.” Barret orders, grabbing one from the nearest body he was next to. Everyone else followed. 

“It’s in Mako reactor one, but we might have to take a detour. So be careful.” Jessie warns the others. “According to the blueprint we received from the informants from the inside, the reactor core is nearest to floor sixty three.”

“So, do we just get there and look for an entrance?” One asks. 

“Yup, basically. That’s all we could really do. The door… Might or might not take our ID cards, so we might have to improvise. We got some extra dynamite just as planned, right?” Jessie asks. 

“Oh yeah,” Barret answered. “We got four dynamite and  _ big boy  _ over here in the duffel bag reserved for the reactor core.” 

“Alright, then.” Jessie smirks before pressing the number sixty three on the elevator pad. The door closes after them, and everyone starts to tense up— except for Cloud and Barret. They knew what was going to happen. If they succeed, then it’s the next operation. If they fail, they die in the hands of Shinra. “It’s gonna take a minute for the elevator, since there’s a lotta floors.” She breaks the silence. 

“...So, merc. What was it like? As a Shinra soldier and everything, I mean.” Barret asked. “I would never see me workin’ for sumbitches like them, much less being a soldier.” He mumbled. 

“Barret—” Jessie tried to intervene.

“It wasn’t fun. I’ve seen good people die while others that weren’t good live on to be high-ranking officials. Didn’t like how they were ignorant to the underground either,” Cloud answered.

“Somethin’ we finally agree on, I suppose.” Barret nodded with respectful silence. 

The elevator was in clean condition, something that Strife often didn’t see. The business district on the outside was rusting away, desolate of life other than guards and large mechs on the patrol for any unlucky infiltrators. “I also didn’t like the way Shinra was handlin’ things,” he mumbled. “I don’t like it at all, and that’s why I’m doing all… All this shit. For the future of my daughter.”

Barret wished for that same cleanliness in the slums, especially where he grew up. It’s the goal that he wants not just for him, but for his family. He’s doing it for his adopted daughter back at the safehouse who’s watching television with Tifa keeping an eye on her. For her parents who were slaughtered mercilessly by Shinra officials so many years ago. There were times where he thought about giving up on the cause, but his daughter’s tears for justice is what made him keep going. 

“How did they train you?” One member asks. He has an innocent look about him, his figure is on the huskier side. “I didn’t really get to… Know anyone that was involved with Shinra or anything.” He coughed awkwardly and glanced away in embarrassment. “U-Uh… I’m Wedge, by the way.” He smiles sheepishly. 

“I… I don’t remember,” Cloud replied, thinking really hard about it. “All I remember really was before Shinra and the wars I’ve fought. The training, though… I don’t really remember.” 

“How don’t you remember?” Barret asked. “Training is usually one of the most memorable things that you could go through,” he tilts his head in confusion. 

“It’s okay if you don’t, and hey—” Wedge reassures, putting his hand on Strife’s uninjured shoulder. “—maybe it’s for the best you don’t, right?” He asks rhetorically. “I’m sure you’re a better person from leaving them. I mean, you seem like a good guy.” 

“Y-Yeah…” Cloud sighed, not really believing Wedge’s last statement. He knew he wasn’t a good person, although he wished he was. Strife was just as horrible as the Shinra officers, since he himself isn’t doing anything about it. He’s not the hero that his younger self promised to be. He grew up and realized that heroes don’t win, they make the ultimate sacrifice, the leap of faith that ends up killing them on impact as soon as they touch the ground. 

The elevator door opens, and everybody rushes out the door and goes through the hallway to find the entrance to the maintenance room. Cloud is the first to pull his ID card out and swipes it, only for the card-reader to deny it. The tiny light flashes red and the door doesn’t budge. 

“No cigar, huh—” Jessie mumbled. “—I sorta figured that this would happen.” She sighed. “Then again, when does anything go our way?” 

“So I guess that means it’s time to use the dynamite,” Barret replied. 

“Yup,” Jessie smirked. “Looking at this tech here, it’s gonna take a lot of time that we don’t have just to crack this baby open that safe way.” 

“Oh, I was hoping that this would be the option. I would just hate for this dynamite to just go to waste.” Biggs grinned. 

“We’ll just have to be careful, because we don’t really know what kind of defenses are protecting the reactor core,” Wedge warned. “We only have so much ammo and so many people, y’know.” 

“Load ‘er up and light ‘em, merc.” Barret ordered. 

“...Why me?” Strife asked. 

“Two reasons, I wanna see if you’re actually riding with us and because I’m the reason why your ass gettin’ paid.  _ Do it _ ,” Barret shouts. 

“Alright, alright.” Cloud surrendered, stretching out his hand and grabbing the dynamite from the other Avalanche member, placing it near the door. He grabs a lighter and holds it up against the fuse, making it spark. Barret beckons everyone to back away from the door and take as much cover as they can. Cloud takes cover behind the chair in the vacant hallway, next to Jessie. 

“And…” The leader among them stares at the lit fuse, awaiting to give the order to charge right in. “Three,” he counts down slowly. “Two,” he slowly starts to grin. “One…” After the fuse runs out, everyone ducks as it explodes after Barret’s countdown. Cloud’s vision blurs and his ears start ringing, he dazes out into space once again, but something pulls him back. Something much darker. Playback of a small and modest village burning bright. A windmill’s fan falls down on one of the children as their mother cries in misery as she couldn’t do anything. 

“Ah, dammit…” Cloud falls to his knees as the pulsing in his head worsens. The screams, the smoke, the explosions, but the screams most of all was what startled him. “No, no, no, no, no...!” He utters under his quickening breath. 

“Shit, Cloud!” Jessie glanced back in concern. “Are you okay?” She asks, snapping her fingers. “Cloud, c’mon, buddy. Answer me.” 

“What’s wrong!?” Biggs asks. “Did Cloud get hit by debris?” 

“No,” Jessie shook her head. “Just… Go on with Barret. Someone needs to keep an eye on him.” Jessie points over to his general direction. 

“A-Alright, just make sure if he’ll be okay to finish the mission.” Biggs hesitantly does as what Jessie says and jogs towards Barret and Wedge. 

“Cloud, take deep breaths. In and out,” she reassures. “In through your nose and out through your mouth.” Cloud tries to snap back to reality, taking deep breaths. “Yeah, that’s it,” Jessie braves a smile. “Keep that up.” It was a minute before Cloud regained at least some of his composure, the flames died down and the cries that he heard went mute, for now at least. 

“S-Sorry,” Cloud mumbles. 

“Cloud, are you sure you can…” Jessie doesn’t know how to put her concern into words. 

“ _ I’m fine, _ ” Strife said with a piercing tone, standing up quickly. 

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” Jessie hangs her head. The mercenary doesn’t say anything at all. She soon follows, but from a distance. The mercenary had to stand up to his demons, and he knew this. It’s a constant battle that will never cease, but he chooses to do it alone— and maybe that’s what he was doing wrong. 


	2. Barret Wallace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They tread closer and closer to the reactor core, and Barret prepares for the mission that he's been waiting for. Is it really worth it? Also, a closer look into Barret's journal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy, everyone. This chapter is pretty special, even though it's a bit shorter than the first chapter. I've been reading this fanfiction series on this site for a while and wanted to reference and make a homage towards it. It's called With Pearl and Ruby Glowing. I strongly recommend it if angst is your cup of tea! It's a crazy read, but it's quite enjoyable.

_ We were prepped. Jessie and Biggs had the dynamite while I carried Big Boy, the bomb that would blow the reactor core to smithereens. Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge were strapped, all except for Merc. He didn't really use a gun, but he held his own as much as we did. I was ready for this moment, we were ready to kick Shinra in the goddamn balls.  _

Instead of a spotlight, an explosion; Barret was a warrior who fought for what he thought was right, even though he wasn't part of the majority. As time went on though; his eyes lost the hopeful gleam that they once had— which were replaced with dark, sunken circles underneath. He never visits the top unless it was for operations, since his home is in the slums. His family is in the slums. His  _ daughter  _ was in the slums. He remembers the late nights where he and Tifa would go and put up Avalanche propaganda posters, only for it to be torn down by Shinra sympathizers and soldiers themselves. He remembers one of the sympathizers tearing the poster down from the advertisement board in a huff, he said that it was only a waste of space. It took a lot from Barret to not say anything— it took Tifa, Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge to hold him back to give the man enough time to get a head start. 

His large frame was enough to send people who didn't know him into a panic, due to both his aura and the turret attached to his arm that he wasn't afraid to use. 

There was something that kept him hesitant and scared him from crossing a line before the mission though, and that was the deep part of his mind; his conscious wondering if bombing a reactor core that could kill thousands if gone wrong is the right thing to do. 

Is it just making sacrifices for a good cause or is he soon becoming a monster and stooping down to Shinra's level of inhumanity? 

Jessie always wondered that too. It weighed down on her conscious the most. 

Barret kept a journal of all the operations that occurred, but he never really had the chance to go into sharp, literary detail due to how he couldn't put the things he saw into words. Some would be a couple of sentences while others would be a paragraph. This operation though, it got him writing more than just a few pages. He considers it therapy, since that kind of treatment was never really available in the slums of the ground and underground sectors. 

_ I remember the explosion a little after we hooked the dynamite up to the door, we planned for this moment. We were ready for it, but we didn't really know what would happen after. Merc was indifferent to it compared to the rest of us, though. He would act weird and disappear for a bit, but nothing too out of the ordinary since the mission was done nonetheless. _

Barret shouted the orders to go as the rubble and ash started to fly everywhere, and everyone started to flood into the destruction and chaos that awaited them. Many guards and workers in the core that weren't injured by the explosion were taken by surprise. One in particular's eyes widened in pure fear as he observed both the mercenary with a sword as large and wide as him beside an eco-terrorist who could snap his neck like a tiny twig. 

_ The merc might be hard to socialize with, but I'll be damned if he isn't an ace up the sleeve when you need him— flaws and all, of course. After that, I'm not gonna flatter him with too many compliments. I still trust him as far as I can throw him even if Tifa knows him. _

The other guards either fled the scene or their bodies turned cold after they got blasted by Jessie’s uzi, Barret’s turret, or even worse, got taken care of by their personal mercenary. The grey, cold steel floor soon has maroon liquid that spreads everywhere. Jessie starts aiming her weapon at the Shinra officer hiding behind a load of cargo, only to trip up on one of the casualties on the battlefield, her hands landing on the blood, all for it to get on her hands. Her eyes widened as she stared back over at the officer, then back at her hands.

_ I feel sorry for Jessie, she takes a lot of it at a young age. She hides it with jokes and flirting, but it doesn’t hide much from me. I’ve seen people hide some dark shit underneath a smile, and Jessie was one of them. Hell, she’s one of the worst. Sometimes I think if she can even handle it at times, but I don’t want to push her away. I know Wedge and Biggs feel the same way too.  _

Jessie gulped and choked at the sight of it so close, so sticky, and putrid. Jessie shakes it off and forces herself to keep going by grabbing her uzi which was also stained with what was stuck on her hands. Some of it dripped off her gloves and onto the ground. She got right back up and started to aim the weapon towards the officer still taking cover while Biggs chased her target out so she could go in for the kill. 

Jessie was used to death being far from her since she used her gun to intimidate whoever was about fifteen feet away from her, but she never really experienced the bodies near her, she never saw what happens when someone dies up close. She never wanted to, but she knew it was the territory of being an Avalanche member. 

“You okay, Jessie?” Wedge asked her from afar. 

“Y-Yeah,” Jessie nods with hesitation. 

_ After everything, she never let this operation go. Even with the other ones that came after, she kept thinking about where she “did wrong.” Her words, not mine. I told her many times after that it wasn’t her fault and it was just something with the bomb, but she didn’t take that for an answer. In all honesty, I blame myself for it.  _

Jessie keeps moving forward. 

_ I think we all blame ourselves for it, especially Biggs, Wedge, Jessie, and I.  _

They open the door and keep going down, pushing forward past defenses— no matter how many enemy officers or drones were there armed to the teeth. There was a large group of soldiers with guns that were larger, both in caliber, gun size and bullet size. Strife and Barret knew what the largest bullets Shinra had could do to a person, since the exit wounds were larger than a baseball. Shinra officers were quicker to lethal force than empty-hand force and  _ lesser  _ lethal forces. They usually skipped three of the five levels of force. 

“Merc,” Barret hollered as he observed the guards taking the safety off their weapons. “You handle this, we’re gonna go on ahead. We’ll see if you’re worth your pay.” 

_ I didn’t know what to expect from him yet, since I still didn’t trust him enough to touch him with a ten foot pole. The kid took care of himself nicely, even though I still haven’t lost my opinion towards him. I bet the feelings are mutual with him or he just doesn’t care.  _

Cloud scoffs and rolls his eyes, readying his Buster Sword at the army of officers charging towards him. He swung his sword unpredictably and sliced whoever was in his way. One of the smaller bullets fired pierced through his shin, and he almost tripped over and winced in pain before gritting his teeth and slicing through the Shinra soldier who shot him. He bursts through the crowd of hostiles, making sure they were either dead or out for the count. 

“S-Shit…” Cloud mumbled and fell to his knee, catching his breath before soon getting back up and following the others. A trail of his blood falls behind him as he limps to the other side of the room. The corridors grew darker and the lights were more dim as he trekked through the halls and corridors, following the trail of chaos that Avalanche left behind them. 

_ I just don’t trust soldiers for shit. Exmilitary or still in service.  _

“Merc, about time you made it back with us. We’re almost there, right?” He looked over towards Jessie to confirm their location. 

“Yup, we’ll just need to go through another few doors and there will be a few ladders that’ll lead us to the main core.” Jessie’s smirk disappeared before she glared over at the mercenary’s leg. “Oh, crap. You’re bleeding,” she stepped back in shock as she grabbed a worn out first aid kit from her backpack. The metal container used to be white, but now it’s a stained yellow with rust on the edges. “I don’t have much medicine here, but this can do until we get back to the safehouse.” 

“I-I’m fine. Back off,” Strife protested threateningly.

“You’re pretty, but you’re dumb—” she grunts as she kneels down and grabs hold of his leg. “—if you think I’m gonna just leave this alone.” She started to pour a little bit of antiseptic all over the wound after pulling his pants leg up, making it sting a little bit. “This might hurt a bit, but I know you’re tough.” 

“Looks like I’m not gonna get out of this,” Cloud scoffed. 

“Nope,” Jessie replied in a sing-songy voice. 

_ Even with Biggs and Wedge around, we’d be screwed without Jessie. She’s in the engineer, medic, and offense departments. She’s the jack-of-all-trades compared to the others, who are mainly just offense. Even me, in all honesty.  _

“Don’t get hurt again, Merc.” Barret stares over at Strife.

“See? Barret here doesn’t wanna see you hurt,” the woman smiles over at the two as she finishes dressing the wound. She hides it, but the blood on her hands, his pants and the bandage; it all shakes her to her core. The blood on her hands. So much  _ blood. _

“You’re gonna waste all our resources,” Barret growled. “Resources that we need.” He continues on forward without them, with Biggs and Wedge following behind him. 

“Don’t listen to him,” she tells him before letting his leg go. 

“...Let’s go. We don’t wanna get behind.” Cloud jogged to catch up with Jessie in tow. 

“You always know what to say,” Jessie mumbled sarcastically. 

_ I always wanted to do this, get revenge on the monsters that put us in this mess. Tifa never really liked our motives and we never really see eye to eye, but she still supports us. I don’t know why. Maybe she believes we’re the lesser of two evils, I suppose. Gods know what’s going through that woman’s head at times. Sometimes she gets through to me and even I doubt what I do.  _

“Alright,” Barret stopped everyone at the door that leads to the reactor core. “Everyone, listen up. We’re all here for a  _ reason,  _ and whatever that  _ reason  _ may be, it’s towards a good cause. We finally stick it to the sonsa’ bitches that kill this earth from the inside out. We finally stick it to the sonsa’ bitches that don’t do right by the ground and underground level of Midgar!” He shouts to hype the small group, all to boost morale. “Some are here for cash,” he glares over at Strife. “Some are here for the better of this planet and for society,” he then looks at Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie. “We go in and we finish what we started for our  _ reasons  _ and the will to enact upon them!” He points toward that door. “Merc and I will plant the bomb, everyone else will stay at the staircase and cover us if we have any…”

“Uninvited guests?” Biggs grinned. 

“You got it,” he nodded before kicking open the door. “Now… Let’s go in there and do some  _ damage _ ! Merc, with me!” He ordered as he charged in head first. 

_ Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge are doing it for their convictions. Soldier boy is doing it for the paycheck. I’m doing this for my daughter so she can have a life that I couldn’t. I dunno, though. Is the sacrifice of thousands killed in the explosion and tens of thousands injured and without homes worth it? All just for “reasons?” It is, isn’t it? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter, it will get better and branch off the canon story a bit as time progresses. Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: My first crack at trying something serious like this. If you like it and want more, please lemme know! I'm going to focus more on Cloud's basic introduction for now and focus on his flaws later on, so I apologize if he seems a bit too edgy or out-of-character. Please comment, share, and gimme ideas that you might want done and I can add the best ones. Thanks for reading!


End file.
